Saturday, May 24, 2003

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Who says George W doesn't love working people? I saw him hug one!

The occasion was yet another Bush photo-op, this one in Little Rock at a pep rally to cheer George's plan to give at least half-a-trillion dollars from our public treasury to America's richest people. The Arkansas Republican Party handpicked the cheering audience for the event and, as the TV cameras rolled, a worker was brought onstage for George to hug.

Why a worker? It's part of the Bushite flim flam, trying to deceive We the People into thinking that while this massive giveaway of public funds actually would go into the silk pockets of the wealthy, it's really being done for us – or, as Bush said at the staged media event, "for the American worker."

Workers sure could use a break. Since Bush took office, 2.6 million jobs have been lost, long-term unemployment is up by 184 percent, an additional two million Americans have no health insurance, wages are stagnant, pensions are being eliminated, and more corporations are abandoning America to exploit cheap labor abroad.

But instead of simply putting money directly in the hands of workers by, say, requiring corporations to pay a living wage or by cutting the payroll taxes that workers and small businesses pay – the Bushites are practicing the same old trickle-down economics that George's daddy once ridiculed as "voodoo."

Fatten the rich, goes this bankrupt theory, and they'll buy more luxury SUVs, causing more autoworkers to be hired, and – trickle, trickle – the economy to be stimulated. But wait, the rich are few in number and will only buy so many SUVs – besides, most SUVs aren't made in the U.S., so there won't be any trickle-down on American workers nor any stimulus for our economy.

This is Jim Hightower saying... Bush should have been hugging a Wall Street speculator, for that's his true love. Bush's "economic stimulus" is a fraud – the rich get the money, the rest of us get a made-for-TV hug. Try taking that to the bank. "

"While hollow men strut aboard aircraft carriers and smack their lips with regal smirks announcing false victories, the war of lies takes it toll in human life. The dead and dying are resurrected as martyrs to justify more violence, and their epitaphs are nothing more than empty slogans and unfulfilled pious promises.

Both sides are wrong. Both sides peer into the mirror of self-righteousness, and see only the vain glorious reflection of their own craven image, not the ugly truth of their tyranny and terror.

To quote T.S. Eliot again:

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

The true weapons of mass destruction are greed, hypocrisy, and moral arrogance; wars built upon lies and false victories of hollow men who seek conquest and dominance over tolerance and peace. "

In polls leading up to the war on Iraq, most of those polled supported the action.
Now..in most-recent MSNBC and WSJ polls, many of those same people don't want to have anything to do with paying for
the rebuilding of the nation we ripped apart.

"Only in America was government
propaganda able to make citizens personally afraid of Saddam
Hussein, sufficiently to promote a war for non-existent "weapons
of mass destruction." 911 was a godsend to the Bush
administration, for in all the world only Americans could be made
to fear Saddam Hussein because of his supposed link to
"terrorism."

"Can the Bush
administration continue to cover one fear with the other, so that
it can go on with its policy of imperial war abroad and transfer
of wealth from the poor to the rich at home? Since no real
critique will come from the "other" party (with an occasional
exception), that seems likely. The policy of aggressive war has
both domestic and foreign attractions for any United States
government."

OH, DWIGHT--WHERE IS YOUR AMERICAN SPIRIT TODAY?
"Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad."

The three commissioners who oversee the DPS were appointed by Bush
when he was governor and have other political connections to Bush and
his family.
Commissioner Bobby Holt of Midland was political finance chairman for
Bush's father, the former president.
Commissioner Jim Francis was chairman of the Bush Pioneers,
individuals who raised more than $100,000 for the current president's
2000 election campaign.
Francis also has close ties to senior presidential adviser Karl Rove.

"Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said today that a "potentially
criminal investigation" is under way into efforts to involve his
agency in last week's search for Democrats who shut down the state
House of Representatives. ..."

"Those deficits are putting enormous pressure on school boards," Mr.
Fuller said, adding that many local board members have been calling
the association's office in Alexandria, Va., about federal help.

Jude Says..

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About Me

Iddybud is a descendant of American patriots, membership to DAR pending, a descendant of a family member who lost another dubious American Presidential election in 1876, so you might understand why she took Selection 2000 to heart.

desiderata - by max ehrmann
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann c.1920